New Avowed gameplay shows off third-person mode, skill trees, and dialogue choices

11 June 2024, 11:56 published

If you’re looking forward to Avowed, Obsidian Entertainment’s upcoming first-person role-playing game (RPG), then you may want to make some time to watch this latest gameplay deep dive.

The latest episode of the Official Xbox Podcast centered solely on Avowed and the hosts interviewed game director Carrie Patel who shared more details on the upcoming Xbox Series X|S and PC game.

The first notable footage involves combat. At the top of the broadcast, Patel mentions the team has been working on improving this aspect of the game, particularly the feedback received upon hitting an enemy. This was a major criticism that came from the original gameplay reveal back in January’s Developer Direct, where attacks looked especially listless.

Now, there seems to have been some improvement on this front, with a good amount of hitstun and particles effects registering hits more satisfyingly. Patel even seems to have picked out some stronger enemies to effectively showcase this on.

Going forward, we get a glimpse at dialogue choices with Yatzli, a character who will become one of Avowed’s companions. Here we see that small icons next to certain choices depict the kind of response you’ll give, perhaps shaping your character’s personality.

Moving further on, Patel shows off Avowed’s third-person mode briefly; a nice addition if you prefer to deck your character in the most stylish gear possible.

Lastly, we get a brief glimpse at inventory management, attributes and, most notably, skill trees. Skills (or abilities) are divided into five categories, and more tiers unlock as you level up, presumably allowing for even more potent abilities. Patel also shows that you’re able to respec abilities if you’re keen to try out different builds.

There’s still no concrete release date for Avowed beyond a vague ‘2024’ window. However, as VGC notes, a blog post on Obsidian’s official website briefly teased a release date of November 12, though this seems to have been edited since and said date has been removed from the post.